“When we were little, Jaime and I were so much alike that even our lord father could not tell us apart. I could never understand why they treated us so differently.
Jaime learned to fight with sword and lance and mace, while I was taught to smile and sing and please. He was heir to Casterly Rock, while I was to be sold to some stranger like a horse, to be ridden whenever my new owner liked, beaten whenever he liked, and cast aside in time for a younger filly. Jaime’s lot was to be glory and power, while mine was birth and moonblood”

Cersei Lannister in A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

I’M DONE WITH A CLASH OF KINGS! A total of 1009 pages! It’s wonderfully made and I definitely took my time with it since Papple gave it to me. I love it, I love it, I utterly love it. Most days I was stuck here moping around without much to do and it’s been a dreary routine of waking up, eating, Internet, movies and sleeping. If it hadn’t been for this book, it would’ve gotten much worse and I could’ve ended up being depressed about nothing. It practically saved me and I couldn’t put it down. The whole Westeros and even the Free Cities and everything going on was running through my head the whole time with the occassional “WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK?!” and a few moments of tossing and turning. God I just love the characters but I did get a bit pissed and teary eyed a bit for some of the characters. Don’t get me started.

I am officially obsessed.

I’ll give a proper entry about the book in general (yes more ASOIF entries to come in this little blog) but for now let me just appreciate Cersei Lannister, who became (once I finished the book) one of my favorite characters. It’s a complicated relationship with her– I love her, I get really ticked off by her sometimes (I can’t really use the word “hate” with her) but more importantly I admire her. She’s what a Lannister is supposed to be– a lioness on the rock.

And Cersei began to cry.

Tyrion Lannister could not have been more astonished if Aegon the Conqueror himself had burst into the room, riding on a dragon and juggling lemon pies. He had not seen his sister weep since they were children together at Casterly Rock. Awkwardly, he took a step toward her. When your sister cries, you were supposed to comfort her . . . but this was Cersei! He reached a tentative hand for her shoulder.

“Don’t touch me,” she said, wrenching away. It should not have hurt, yet it did, more than any slap. Red-faced, as angry as she was grief-stricken, Cersei struggled for breath. “Don’t look at me, not . . . not like this . . . not you .”

Politely, Tyrion turned his back. “I did not mean to frighten you. I promise you, nothing will happen to Myrcella.”

“Liar,” she said behind him. “I’m not a child, to be soothed with empty promises. You told me you would free Jaime too. Well, where is he?”

“In Riverrun, I should imagine. Safe and under guard, until I find a way to free him.”

Cersei sniffed. “I should have been born a man. I would have no need of any of you then. None of this would have been allowed to happen. How could Jaime let himself be captured by that boy? And Father, I trusted in him, fool that I am, but where is he now that he’s wanted? What is he doing? ”

– Tyrion Lannister and Cersei Lannister

She’s wicked, she’s a viper abut above all she’s a mother and woman. We never got to see this side of her in the first book but here in the second book she’s just afgshkwetywagh.

“The only way to keep your people loyal is to make certain they fear you more than they do the enemy.”

– Cersei Lannister to Sansa Stark in A Clash of Kings

“Have I shocked you, my lady? You little fool. Tears are not a woman’s only weapon. You’ve got one between your legs and you’ve best learn to use it. You’ll find men use their swords freely enough. Both kinds of swords.”

– Cersei Lannister to Sansa Stark in A Clash of Kings

I’m just really excited how Lena Headey would be like as Cersei on the upcoming second season of Game of Thrones this April 1st. And I’m more excited what Cersei has in store for A Storm of Swords.

R

R has a prodigious appetite for books and excellent lasagna.

No experience has been too unimportant, and the smallest event unfolds like a fate, and fate itself is like a wonderful, wide fabric in which every thread is guided by an infinitely tender hand and laid alongside another thread and is held and supported by a hundred others.
- Rainer Maria Rilke